Resuming freezes

[streetglide]

For inexplicable reasons, my SDA freezes after starting with "Resuming".
I have to wait for approx. 24 hours to unload the battery. After re-loading the battery, everything works fine. This happened now the third time.

For info: This is not the first UEMIS SDA for me and my wife. The first 2 SDAs got in Resume/Boot loop in February simultanously on Maldives and were replaced by UEMIS (diagnosis: Waterpenetration). One of the new SDAs again got in the Resume-Boot loop (the error was not exactly replicable by UEMIS, they sent a new one).
This (the fifth one) had the Resuming-freeze after the first dive. I phoned with UEMIS one week before their closing, and they said they didn't have this bug before...

Anyone with the same problem?

Recommendation: Do not leave the SDA for a longer time in the direct sun for loading! I suspect that due to the black housing, it leads to high temperature which can destroy the housing (our first and second SDA's) or damages the electronical parts (the third SDA).
The charging current from the solar panel seems to be more for advertising ;-)

 

[Scubacastor]

I've read about the same issure from someone living on a French island in the indian ocean and the problem which occured as well after a long stay under the sun was solved the same way: discharging the battery and then loading it again.

Not sure the black housing is the problem. The problem can come from a component inside that simply overheat. Electronics in general does not like heat...

 

[memorex77]

I had a similar effect. They told me to re-install the software even when though I had the most current version, and it never happened again. But I have to admit that I would never expose any electronic device to direct sunlight if possible, thermal stress is a killer for electronics.

 

[streetglide]

Thanks for the advise memorex77!
I re-installed the software and hopefully the problem is fixed.

 

[Chiung]

I leave mine on my window sill - behind a double glazed insulated glass sash - for days at a time getting direct afternoon Florida sunshine with no problems. I think this way it still get the sunlight, but not the heat.

 

[mark260165]

Well I have experianced the same prob with one of mine......
I have had four SDA's over a period of 15 months, first one died after two dives, it just didn't turn on one day! dead as a Dodo.
It was replaced by the dive shop I purchased from, second one lasted nine dives and then had that boot loop problem, again dive shop sent out a new one from their stock, unfortunately when I started this one the screen just had coloured lines flying up & down, I took a video of it and sent it to both Uemis & the dive shop & told them that I had had enough of Uemis computers, how could I go away for a weeks diving and trust the computer to work??
Uemis said that the screen was faulty & assured me they knew the cause of the other two failures, its the temprature sender that measures water & air temps, it was put very close to the outside edge of the components so it can respond quickly to temp changes and covered with a very thin layer of epoxy resin to water proof it, the failure had been because as the unit heats up the resin can crack and flood the unit.
They have cut away some of the body & put a thicker layer of resin over it.
I asked the shop for a different make of computer as I didnt trust the SDA, they assured me all problems fixed, stick with it (I love the operational strengths of the uemis, display etc. well you guys know what I mean as you have them) so agreed!
How STUPID of me, my latest one failed two weeks ago, AAARRRGGGHHHH I did a dive, packed it away after, got home, rinsed it then went to retreive the dive data but its Dead! Dead! Dead!
It doesnt, charge, turn on, doesnt respond to being plugged in to pc, I now have a very expensive paper weight!
I have spoken with the dive centre who informed me that Uemis had been liquidated and there is no chance of repair or replacement, the only offer they have given me is a discount of a different make & model.
I feel like I have made a stupid mistake in choosing the Uemis & should have stuck with one of the larger manufacturers, I understand from what I have been told by the retailer that the failure rates of the SDA units is very high! no wonder they went bust! GUTTED!!!!!

 

[Scubacastor]

So it seems one common source of problem might be heat leading to crack in epoxy.

I hate all those electronic things potted in resin. If I had knew UEMIS was using the same crappy designs that had me repelled from any uwatec products for years (oil filed, non-user replaceable battery), I would have avoided buying this brand. I found the other a ppt from UEMIS tell a the BOOT exhibit that they were not expecting to do any repair to their computers, just replace it.

My UEMIS has also been replaced after the USB power died on dive 3. For what I've read, it seems like the different problems for this computer were: do not boot at all (= water in battery compartment), boot loop symptom, erratic depth, trouble with USB.

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

The SDA had a great opportunity to drag dive computers forward in time a bit, reading about these failures in the different threads it would be interesting to know how many people have bought the SDA and never had any problems with the original unit they purchased. It appears the satisfaction of diving with these units outweighed the inconvienence of having to send them off for replacement lending to the high approval rating of them now declining. From the different posts in various threads on this board alone it appears its not "if" the unit will fail but "when" it will fail. That "when" now becomes more important because of Uemis's bankruptcy, add on top of that the NA distributor not having the means or resources to service the units, it apparent the SDA will probably fade away to memories sooner than later.

 

[Scubacastor]

It appears the satisfaction of diving with these units outweighed the inconvienence of having to send them off for replacement lending to the high approval rating of them now declining.

People don't buy stuff with in mind the philosophy that it's not a problem if the unit fails since it will be replaced. You want to buy something you trust, not a shiny device that will leave you stranded during a dive or a dive trip. Plus those things drop dead when you need them like during the dive season. Considering the lack of local distributor anywhere in the world and high price tag, it's certain no one wanted to have these units replaced.

From the different posts in various threads on this board alone it appears its not "if" the unit will fail but "when" it will fail. That "when" now becomes more important because of Uemis's bankruptcy, add on top of that the NA distributor not having the means or resources to service the units, it apparent the SDA will probably fade away to memories sooner than later.

Hard to tell because people having issues are more likely to report on the internet. Several dive shops have written here and there that the failure rate was 10% at the beginning and not unusual. That means it was probably more than 10% as some people probably directly contacted UEMIS. But we don't know if these units have had improvements over time therefore the first batch was probably the worst... and then we don't know.

 

[streetglide]

I know several divers without any problems and 3 instructors alone with hundreds of dives (even Antarctica) without any failure.
It seems that this gimmick with the solar-charging is one of the main problems. Our first 2 SDA´s were flooded due to the crack of the resin.
As mark260165 stated above, the temperature sender that measures water & air temps, was put very close to the outside edge of the housing near the solar panel (this was corrected later by UEMIS).
If the manual instructs me that the battery will be loading when placed into the sun - then, I will do as instructed.
Instead of implementing this expensive solarpanel-gimmick, it would have been better to build in a bigger battery and more robust housing.

Maybe this was also a point which contributed to the closing. Even if the 10% failure rate is correct - I assume UEMIS didn't calculated with this...
Despite all these problems - for me the Uemis-SDA is a great dive computer! (if it works, of course).